Living to the Fullest

A blog post by Chelsea Graham

All throughout the Poland Pilgrimage ideas for this blog kept popping into my head, but now that I’m writing it, I don’t know if it’s what I really want to write about…

 I loved Poland, it was an incredible experience, and one I am so glad that I had, but it was possibly one of the hardest things I’ve experienced. It was wicked cool to see the unveiling of the Black Madonna, touch my rosary to St. Faustina’s relic at the Divine Mercy Shrine, have mass at the Cathedral in Krakow, and see where Blessed John Paul the Second grew up.  And at some of those times I felt like I wasn’t on a pilgrimage, just on a trip visiting Poland. But then Auschwitz would pop into my head. It would remind me of the horror that happened inside the barbed-wire fences. Flashes of buildings, the sleeping conditions, and the death wall would flood my memory, and remind me that this was indeed a pilgrimage.

After Auschwitz I almost forgot how to be happy for a while.  For the rest of that night I was dazed, I was angry, but most of all, I was confused. How could any human being watch what the prisoners were going through and not do anything? What spell were the “commandants” under? None of it had made sense to me. And yes, I’ve seen pictures and read books on the Holocaust, but those in no way prepared me for what I saw at Auschwitz. Nothing could have prepared me for actually being there and beholding the atrocities.

For the rest of the weekend I felt guilty for having a bed to sleep in, food for every meal, and the freedom to do what I want--all the very things that were denied to the prisoners of the concentration camp. It wasn’t until days later at the Festival of Praise (an evening of charismatic prayerful song and praise) that I really let everything sink in, and I accepted it. What right did I have to let life pass me by and not live it to the fullest in the honor of those who couldn’t? The prisoners of the camps will always be a reminder that there is evil in our world, and our lives can change in a matter of minutes, everything can take a turn for the worse in seconds, or we can lose all of our material possessions in a blink of an eye (just think of all the recent natural disasters). 

And we can continue to live just waiting for that to happen or we can look at the opposite end of the spectrum: for many of us, we have our occasional difficulties, but we also have a beautiful, happy life and everything we basically need. We have more than the prisoners of the camp could even dream of in their time of need, so let’s take advantage of that. Let’s not let another day go by when we don’t thank God for the beautiful gifts he has given to us: for his mercy, love and compassion.

I am so blessed to be here in Gaming, and I let almost a whole week go by without even enjoying any of his beauty. Time is of the essence, so let’s not waste it! Go out, explore the beauty of creation, spend time with everyone you love, and love till it hurts. Love like you’ve never loved before for in the scheme of things, we really have so much to be thankful for. 

Rafting Adventures

Blog writer, Jonathan Smith recounts his adventure white-water rafting this past weekend:

I had never been so excited to be out of a car as when we first arrived in Johnsbach, Austria for a whitewater rafting trip. As soon as the car stopped, we all scrambled out. We passed over rocky terrain and Austrian countryside and it made us anxious to get out and hike. The rafting guides wouldn’t be ready for us for about two hours so we were free to explore the area: some of us pet cows and walked along the paths around the city; others came back with itching, burning legs from stinging nettles; others with ticks, and someone even got hit in the head with a boulder! But, it was all a great way to prepare for the impending rafting adventure.

Suit up! One by one we jumped into the wet suits, helmets and life jackets. One cool thing about them was that they had this magical power to turn you into any action hero you imagined: We started play fighting in the streets, even though all the townspeople were staring at us. Nevertheless, we felt invincible. Now I’d never been rafting, and I was feeling particularly adventurous that day, so when I found out that the guides would be coming with us, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to go crazy and flip the rafts and be wild about it, without anyone telling me to stop. But my disappointment was short-lived.

After giving us basic instructions on how not to die, our guides got us in the rafts and let the current sweep us downriver. Over the rushing of the water our guide yelled for us to start paddling. He led us through some intense rapids which soaked us instantly, and when I looked to see the guys around me, they were all grinning from ear to ear. It didn’t take us long to realize that our guide was the coolest. He had the raft flipped over within the first ten minutes of the trip and he even ran us up onto a rock just for fun.

After that, our guide was no longer just a boat guide to us--He was our captain. He led us in some kind of battle cry and we all smacked our paddles together in the center of the raft. Quickly he had us turned around and facing the other boat, to ram them. Chaos ensued as our captain was merciless toward the other boats. I believe at one point we had stolen four or five paddles, and we were jumping into other boats to throw people into the river. The other teams caught on too. Tony Ertel (the resident director) tackled his own guide into the river and left a boatful of girls to fend for themselves. It was hilarious. Even Father Brad got mixed up in the confusion. At one point I looked over at him and he was just holding onto the raft in the freezing water calmly claiming to be “a pacifist”.

Pacifist perhaps, but we did have one close call that day: One of our fellow students got caught in the rapids and hit a few rocks while dodging the bigger ones. Thankfully, in the end he was alright.

After all the excitement we had some time to just look up into the mountains and swim around as the current pulled us downriver. To the south there were tall, gray cliffs that had been cut away at by the river. The setting of the evening sun cast shadows in front of the cliffs so that they looked closer, but maybe further away. It was a strange contrast to see, but it was so beautiful, I imagine a blind person could have sensed it. It struck a feeling of reverence over our group.

To top the day off perfectly, we stopped at a little pizzeria and ordered about 15 pizzas and some beer. We talked and laughed about the trip over our supper. However, amidst all the laughter and fun, I believe it is important to remember to be thankful for the wild opportunities, beauty, and culture of this amazing country.

Gott segnen Österreich,

Jonathan Smith